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Capacity Development

Photo: Brad Collis

BirdLife is two-thirds of the way towards being represented in all countries and territories of the world.

Established BirdLife Partners provide practical support to newer Partners

With Partnership help, independent self-sustaining BirdLife organisations have emerged in countries which had no national conservation NGOs, including Madagascar and Fiji.

A dedicated and effective network of civil society movements for nature is the only way to ensure tangible, long-term and sustainable conservation impact. This principle is at the heart of the BirdLife model of a global Partnership of grassroots, national non-governmental organisations (NGOs). This is why a major emphasis of BirdLife’s work is on organisational capacity building, from science to policy and conservation action, and also management, communications and marketing. Each of BirdLife’s programmes has a capacity development component.

The 120 civil society organisations forming the BirdLife Partnership have a wealth of knowledge and technical skills, amounting in 2012 to a total of 4500+ years of experience. They share their knowledge and experience, providing each other with invaluable real-world solutions and best practices. This is crucial because over half of the BirdLife Partners are in developing countries. Learning and sharing in this way helps organisations to grow, and strengthens their resilience in difficult situations. Since the creation of the BirdLife Partnership 20 years ago, no BirdLife Partner organisation has collapsed or disappeared.

Video story: step into a desert island wilderness, where conservation work for turtles and birds is delivering heartening, long lasting, results: “Now the fishermen work with us, they help us count the birds instead of killing them. They even adopt turtle nests. It is a big, big change.”

From 29th – 31st March 2016, BirdLife International, Ghana Wildlife Society and the Legon Botanical Gardens will host the Future4Nature kick-off event in Akosombo Ghana, to develop shared, innovative solutions tailored to conditions in Ghana that will lead to long-term improvements in people’s lives.

Working with local people is critical to effective, sustainable and equitable conservation. South Mara Water Users Association is a Local Conservation Group (LCG) working in the Masurura Swamp, Mara in Tanzania, one of the critical wetlands in the Lake Victoria Basin.